XJ 650 side cover specs says Regular (Leaded)??????? Gas

I was just looking at my side cover and noticed this. Regular (Leaded) Gasoline????? I know lead was used as some sort of lubrication put in the gas years ago. Some old cars you need a lead additive for the gas. IDK Maybe someone can shed some light on the subject. Let me know what you think. Thanks

 

as far as i know (being a car guy) the new gas that we have now has special additives where it lubricates the engine without the old lead additive, so you can run straight 91 octane if you want without harming the engine

 

Hey, Man ...

That same sticker says NO Adjustment for Mixtures.

We all know better than that!

Wen Summer arrives in New England, ... The ETHANOL Stickers get plastered on he Gas Pumps.

"Regular Gasoline may contain up to 12% Ethanol as prescribed for in Law."
That's when I abandon using Regular and switch to High Test.

I know my Bike likes it.

 

You'll also notice it says "RESEARCH OCTANE : 91 MIN". That's roughly an octane of 86 in the R+M/2 octane measurement listed on US pumps.

 

I figured everything was ok. I was just curious. I use high octane just because there really isn't much of a price difference on the bike. Thanks everyone.

 

It never occurred to me that some folks aren't old enough to remember leaded gas, and the "phase out" as unleaded became the norm.

Back when these bikes were new, "leaded" gas was the norm, unleaded was being phased in. The phase out of lead as a fuel additive began in the mid-'70s, and by 1996 leaded gas was no longer available. Health reasons aside, the initial reason for getting rid of the lead was that it "poisoned" catalytic converters.

NASCAR switched to unleaded in 2008.

 

Also it lies - our engines have been designed for unleaded fuel from day 1. The 'Regular (leaded)' bit was put there as a marketing ploy to not scare away buyers during the switchover time. The thinking was that using leaded fuel in an engine designed for unleaded does no harm, and thus made marketing easier.